Lenoir Staples fined for price errors

The Staples office supply store in Lenoir paid $1,300 in civil penalties after the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services found the store was overcharging for too many items sold during inspections in February and March.

The department's standards division conducts periodic, unnanounced inspections of businesses' price-scanner systems to check for accuracy between the prices advertised and the prices that ring up at the register. If a store overcharges on more than 2 percent of items sold, further action is undertaken, including penalties if a store fails a follow-up inspection, department spokesman Stephen Benjamin said.

The February inspection at Staples found a rate of 5 percent, or five overcharges out of 100 items sold. A second inspection in March found an error rate of 3.67 percent.

During a re-inspection of Staples in May, the error rate was within state guidelines, the department said.